Artificial Intelligence in Advertising Share: Agencia INNN Date Published 29 November 2018 Categories Blog Reading Time 5-Minute Read From the advances in programmatic advertising to the digital functionalities of daily consumption that are based on artificial intelligence. According to Jon McCarthy (considered the father of the term and the promoter of his research), Artificial intelligence is “the science and ingenuity of making intelligent machines and programs”. McCarthy was convinced that he could replicate certain processes of the human mind with computers. More than a half a century after those words, this science is already applied in many everyday acts and digital consumption. This is the case with Artificial Intelligence in advertising. Quite possibly, Artificial intelligence has become the substance from which emanates a new way of marketing. I will explain why. John McCarthy, the father of the Artificial Intelligence. | Photo: The Independent Artificial Intelligence Brings Us Closer to the Consumer The more data we have from the public, the more we can adjust our communications to their needs and motivations. The permanent monitoring of consumption behaviors allows us to collect a huge amount of data, which, in turn, are treated, classified and arranged for the activation of certain marketing actions. This could be a summarized and standard sequence of the phenomenon that concerns us. The sequence, in addition, happens again and again, successively and without pause, in a programmed and incremental way. The process learns from itself and reproduces increasingly “smart” actions for an increasingly better user; in a kind of retargeting (remarketing according to Google). The technological advance is fundamental for this invention to work. Speed is a determining variable in the big data management; a management that involves automatic decisions in real time. This translates into advertising messages that are increasingly personalized, more precise, and more timely with respect to the moments in which consumers find themselves. And with better-defined objectives and targets, creativity can be even more powerful and attractive in the eyes of that ideal user. Communication strategies banish intuition for the benefit of decisions supported by data. And no, artificial intuition does not exist yet. Artificial Intelligence Is More Profitable Artificial Intelligence is developing at a very good pace because brands are investing in it. Advertisers see Artificial Intelligence as a way of getting to know their audience better, better circumscribing their interests, acting as snipers of products. Programmatic advertising on the Internet employs systems that distribute advertisements through channels and selected websites in real time for receptive users. All this takes place in imperceptible strips of time and with an exactitude impossible for traditional methods. The programmatic purchase optimizes, without a doubt, the return of the advertising investment thanks to the algorithms that define the demand and decide the most convenient acquisition of impressions. “Programmatic advertising in the United States is already 70% of the total digital advertising investment.” What Is Being Done in Artificial Intelligence It is no longer only friends who recommend movies, series, and books. Now it is the digital tools based on Artificial Intelligence that help us in the choice of our next reading or movie to see for example (and seem to know even better our tastes). Research in Artificial Intelligence is moving by leaps and bounds. Here I mention some of the things that most appeal to me now as far as IA is concerned. Google, the great technological protagonist of the 21st century, should head this list. To a greater or lesser extent, Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning are present in almost all its products. From the voice assistant to your mobile Pixel 3 through Google Ads and Google Home, everything is a factory of features that aim to make life easier and more “controlled”. Elon Musk talks, however, about the existential threat posed by Artificial intelligence. It even assures that if the control of this technology falls in few and bad hands, the human being will be submitted as a simple pet before a superior intelligence. This does not mean turning your back on the AI, rather the opposite. Elon Musk is behind several initiatives to democratize this technology, and as for own developments, we have for example his Tesla Autopilot car. The company assures that in 2019 it will be the first full self-driving car (with the permission of Waymo, by Google). Stanley Kubrick already reflected in 1968 on the risks of “thinking” machines. By the way, it’s an impressive film that I really recommend: ‘2001, A Space Odyssey’. | INNN IBM promises to remember golden times with its incorporation to Artificial Intelligence. Its Al OpenScale platform offers an environment for companies to gather and manage all Al tools in the easiest way, whatever their source (in fact, I am thinking whether to go to the dentist tomorrow or implement an advanced chatbot). Facebook has created Wit.ai, a way to make it easier for developers to create applications and devices based on Artificial Intelligence, specially applied to human language. INNN… We did not want to miss the world top 5 😉 The truth is that we believe in the power of data to make marketing decisions. Brands cannot be exposed to improvisation and that is why we monitor their digital presence in scorecards and dashboards to arrive at the solid strategic conclusions. We cross sources such as Google Analytics, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Prestashop in integrated, clear dashboards with relevant KPI´s, and we like to investigate and incorporate the opportunities that technology is offering us.